


Not Done Yet

by Starshaker



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alien Culture, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Centaur Hux, Centaurs, Cultural Differences, Gen, Injury, Strangers, naturalist Ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 11:18:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12934128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starshaker/pseuds/Starshaker
Summary: The Millenium Falcon crash lands and Han, Leia and Ben seek shelter and assistance from one of Han's contacts. As they attempt to fix the Falcon Ben becomes fascinated by a centaur-like creature that ventures out from the forest which surrounds them. As he tries to draw the creature out into the open the creature (Hux) instead lures Ben into the forest.Hux leads Ben deep into the forest and the pair are forced to learn from each other in order to survive. Ben learns a lot about himself too as he has to draw on deepest reaches of the Force.





	Not Done Yet

**Author's Note:**

> Art by http://keryth-m.tumblr.com and http://kylodarknessdementiaravenren.tumblr.com/  
> Beta-ed by http://lobowrites.tumblr.com/

 --  --

 

 

 

The Force warned him of an imminent threat half a second before the valve broke and chemical steam shot into the cabin. Ben was out of his seat before the alarm sounded. He leant against the doorway, covering his mouth and nose with the top of his shirt, and held out a hand towards the break. Something in the very air around him pushed back against his palm, the ship threatening to buckle around him the way his father had always assured everyone would never happen.

Ben concentrated on pushing the steam back into the pipe where it was coming from. Alerts sounded and Ben struggled to filter them out. The Force helped him manipulate the elements, but it wouldn’t stop the chemicals in the steam from reacting with the other systems around him.

 

A hand landed on his arm and his concentration broke as he jerked away from the touch. A cloud of steam burst forth as something was shoved into his hands.

“Guide us down kid, I’ve got this,” his father said, but his thoughts rang out in Ben’s mind; “No need for Force nonsense.” He might as well have muttered it under his breath

Steam filled the room now Ben’s attention had broken, and when he looked down he saw a gas mask in his hands. He turned tail, shut the door to the compartment behind him and headed back to the front of the ship

Landing on a planet was better than drifting in space and he ducked back into the cockpit. His mother was struggling to maintain a safe descent as he slid into the pilot seat and scanned the dials. He had to find them a spot to land, or at the very least to crash softly. Trees covered the landscape, no clear gaps and no clear readings on the sensors. A dozen different readings flared at once and then flatlined. The lesser damage would come from cruising down at a low angle through those trees. If there were lucky nothing would pierce any of the vital mechanics.

The falcon had been shuddering since they left Coruscant, the steering not quite responding the way it should have done but the odd noise or flicker on the equipment was to be expected; It would be stranger to fly her without the hazard of makeshift fixes.

The ship protested as she bounced over the trees, and a thunderous rumble shook them all to their core as they ploughed into the ground. Ben braced himself against the front console, Han ended up on the floor just inside the cockpit and, by the time he’d looked up, his mother was on her feet, both hands braced against the ship panels as she peered forwards. She might have sensed their situation within the Force, or she may have been brewing some choice words.

“Even Chewie knew to abandon ship before this trip,” Leia snapped as she turned sharply to look at Han.

“If the Force knows so much you wouldn't have been on this ship,” Han grumbled and cast a look back into the bowels of the ship. “I don’t reckon we’ll get her back in the air today,”

“We’ve got provisions for two days at most.”

“I’ve got a friend around here somewhere. She’ll sort us out.”

“What friend? How do you even know where we are?”

“I might have left owing them some money,” he said and shrugged. “You always need to know where you are in relation to your debts, kiddo,” Han said with a nod to Ben. He glanced away and attempted to bring a bit of life back into the consoles and sensors. Some of them flickered back to life but only to tell him the same thing over again. They weren't going to be going anyway today.

“Do you know where they are?” Leia asked

“Do you know where Luke is?” Han asked, “No, but I trust that they’ll show up when I ask, when I need them.”

“Comms are iffy,” Ben said as he managed to find a narrow range of frequencies the ship would still manage. “What are they likely to respond to?”

“Nothing less than grovelling,” Leia said and turned tail to head back into the ship.

“She might be right y’know,” Han said as he slid into the opposite chair. “You want to go wake up R2 and C3-P0?”

“I could take a look at it,” Ben said. He kept his eyes on the console in front of him as he adjusted the outputs.

“Don’t bother. The droids can tell me all I need to know.”

“Right,” Ben muttered. He flicked the communicators to broadcasting locally and left the cockpit to his father’s interference.

\--

Ben sat on the edge of the boarding ramp. Fully lowered it left about four feet between the bottom edge and the ground. He leant back against the hydraulics. He fished his journal out of his pocket and began noting down their surroundings. Only birds had returned to the area in the wake of their crash, searching for food. He watched them pull up bugs from beneath upturned trees. Their impact had brought down a few miles worth behind them, an alleyway of sorts stretched out to the horizon..

He felt his mother approaching him rather than heard her; her thought pattern was familiar but it was a long time since familiarity brought with it any ease of mind. He shut his journal and covered it with his hands as she neared.

“Well, he found whoever it was he was looking for,” Leia said from behind him, “On this planet would you believe,” Ben didn’t reply and kept his eyes on the trees. “They’ll be here in a couple of hours.” She added. Ben hummed but didn’t look up

“If you’re meditating I can leave you to it,” She said after a pause.

“You know I can’t meditate well enough to do any good,” Ben said

“I’ve tried to teach you, Luke tried to teach you.” Leia said and still Ben stayed quiet. All of his reasons had been heard already. She stopped her train of thought and then continued with a less impatient tone, “Has your father spoken to you about…”

“No.” Ben said.

“You should talk to him.” Leia started and again Ben heard her thoughts cut off suddenly.

“About…” Ben asked.

“You’re an adult now, you should be able to talk to your parents.” Leia said, though her words were as tired as her arguments.

“I’ll work on my small talk,” He said dryly as he kept his eyes on his hands in his lap.

“Get something to eat before Han’s friends get here. You’ll want your wits about you if experience is anything to go by.” Leia said. Ben snorted and shook his head.

“He’s got a bad feeling about something, he just doesn’t know what’s causing it yet.” Ben said, still not looking up.

“Don’t read your father’s thoughts.” Leia said and walked away before he had the chance to say what he’d reiterated a thousand times before.

He couldn’t help reading their thoughts. He’d being doing it since before he could speak. He could tell what they wanted from him, what they wanted him to do and say. Leia realised first and hated him for it; When she spoke to Han about it they both arrived at the conclusion he was a on a path to the dark side. She’d tried unsuccessfully to explain the difference to him between other people’s thoughts and his own. When she’d reached her limit she’d decided her brother, his uncle Luke, could teach him enough of the Force to close off that part of himself.

His power was too strong and ingrained too deeply for Luke to influence with Jedi teachings. With Luke’s every attempt to train and change him, Ben resented his family more. After years of little progress he stole a ship and took off with no direction in mind. Han found him in four days and in another two he was back at his mother’s side. This time disagreeing with her at every turn.

There was one benefit to his time with Luke. Ben had found himself fascinated by the planet. He’d quietly studied the animals and fauna and made a note of everything in a leather journal as proof of his own thoughts: Animals with simple thought patterns but exaggerated anatomy. Plants with complex survival instincts that Ben could examine and manipulate by use of the Force and his experience with ship engineering.

 

Ben sat for a few minutes more looking out into the forest. A rumble sounded, like a herd on the move, but he couldn’t see any movement through the dense woodland. With negligible human life signs and so many trees covering the planet the oxygen levels were higher than average; the bugs were bigger so that surely also meant any mammals would also be larger than average too. He almost considered hopping down to take a walk further into the trees to see what he could find. His thoughts were shortly interrupted by C3-PO.

“Master Ben, I have been told to advise you that the group who is coming to retrieve us are not as you may say, Force friendly,” The droid said, “Your father has suggested you pack away any of your, to put it in his words, mystic junk, as we prepare for their arrival.”

“I’m not locking up my lightsaber.” Ben said.

“He only advises that-,” C3PO started but Ben cut him off.

“I know C3P0, I’m reconstructing it. I can’t just throw it in a box and hope for the best. If he asks, tell him that could blow the ship to pieces, even more than it already is.”

“I’m sure I could pack it away in a way to prevent the components disturbing each other.” C3PO suggested. Ben sighed and shook his head.

“No. Just tell him I won’t do it,” Ben said as he pushed himself to his feet, pocketed his journal and pen and stepped around the droid. “It’s not like he won’t be expecting that.”

 

Ben didn’t need long to pack his bag, most of his belongings were already packed ready to make a quick exit at short notice. He wrapped the pieces of his lightsaber in scraps of cloth and set them inside a box to keep them together in the bottom of his bag. Hopefully they wouldn’t be jostled too much there but there was little chance of an explosion, despite what he’d happily suggest to his father. Han Solo didn’t like to be associated with Force users, even if one of them was his own son.

 

The air prickled with a change in localised pressure and a high pitched whistle could be heard and soon turned to a low rumble of thrusters guiding a ship down nearby. Ben shouldered his bag and headed outside. He hesitated at the corner of a corridor as he heard his parents prepare to exit. When their voices dropped he counted to ten and followed them out. He lingered some feet back from where they were stood. Leia remained dubious of whoever this was come to their rescue and a brief read of Han’s thoughts only gave away that he was preparing a few lies about their heading and current state of the ship.

Ben glanced again to the treeline and thought he saw a flash of movement, red amongst the greens and browns of the foliage. He tried to pick out what it may have been, bird or mammal but his attention wasn’t left uninterrupted for long enough.

 

“Is this the ship I’m here to help, or one I can raid,” A woman shouted. She looked human form where he stood, a Corellian accent and Ben would have pegged her for a smuggler if only by her clothes. She pulled the hood down with one hand and holstered her blaster

“You’ve thought about doing both, haven’t you, Mirax?” Han called back. Ben saw him share a look with Leia and then step forward to greet her. Leia’s uncertainty has been replaced with ease and a hint of exasperation.

“If you hadn’t got your family out here, Solo, I might have pondered for a few seconds less,” she said. She looked from Han to Leia and tilted her head. “Leia Organa, are you still going by the title Princess, or…”

“It was General last time we met,” Leia said as she stepped forward to embrace the woman. “Leia, please. And my son, Ben.” Leia turned and gestured towards him. Ben remained several metres back from them and made no attempt to greet her from any closer. He nodded and watched as Mirax’s smile grew. She wasn’t an honest woman from what Ben could tell from a brush of her mind and the impressions his parents held of her, though she was more adept at long term strategy and blackmail than an opportunist after a quick credit.

“Well I never,” Mirax said as a smile pulled at the corner of her mouth, “Nice to meet you,” She said and nodded, “Tell me, are you still keeping your rogues in line?” She asked as she turned back to Leia, “I haven’t heard from Wedge in months,”

“There’s hope for a little peace yet.” Leia said. Ben wondered why she pretended otherwise. There was a reason they had been on course for the third peace conference in a month.

“Do you have a long range comms unit I could use?” Leia asked, “I wasn’t expecting to be out of contact with my work for so long.”

“Go right on through. Follow the sounds of a droid arguing with the ship. They’re both at your disposal.” Mirax said and waved Leia towards her ship.

“Thank you,” Leia said and walked up the ramp of the ship. Ben glanced between his mother as she entered the ship and his father who had begun explaining in the vaguest of terms the extent of the Millennium Falcon’s damage to Mirax. Ben’s presence wasn’t wanted by either party.

He sussed they’d be some time either way, so as Han talked his way out of whatever debt he’d left without paying and Leia continued with saving the galaxy from everything but herself, Ben stepped away, circling Mirax’s ship.

 

The forest towered above him and he pushed past ferns and bracken. It was cooler once he stepped into the shadows of the trees. The damp smell of leafmould filled his nose and it crackled beneath his boots.

The hum of the ships faded and Ben took a deep breath to centre himself.

The canopy overhead was knotted with vines that fell down and blocked the path up ahead from view. The sounds of a thousand birds filtered down to him from the canopy but only the odd movement could be seen through the dense trees and shrubs. The breeze picked up in the branches overhead and Ben looked up as he continued on. When he could no longer see the light of the clearing through the trees behind him, he felt like he had found his peace.

He knelt and dug his fingers into the dirt and moss of the ground and reached for the energy of the planet. A part of the Force he could steady himself against. A bug zigzagged across the back of his hand and then dropped back down into the dirt and disappeared.

Ben followed the rumble of the earth and found his breathing slowing, his heart slowly resumed a peaceful rhythm and the cacophony of noises dulled in his mind. His uncle had tried to teach him how to clear his mind of the background noise, how to tune it out until the Force was the only steady constant. He couldn’t tune it out, but he had learnt to focus on singular noises, and then two, three or more noises. He couldn’t detach from the world like his mother and uncle could, which was one of the reasons he couldn’t follow in their footsteps.

As his breathing slowed and his focus returned to the present he found that the ground beneath him was far from comfortable, though anticipation quelled his urge to move. A creature with emotions and a complex mind was nearby, and it had noticed him. Ben purposefully withdrew before the creature might have sensed him connecting with its mind. Ben daren’t reach out to urge the creature forwards, its presence suggested it did not have a mind easily controlled. It felt larger than himself but not by so much that the threat outweighed the potential reward. He waited and with every step the creature took Ben wondered whether it could smell him, see him, or sense him in some other way.

When finally his anticipation could not outlast his patience, Ben opened his eyes and saw nothing around him. He stilled again and concentrated on the direction of the feelings that were not his own. He counted his own breaths in time with the pulse of the nearby creature and then pushed himself to his feet to face it.

Between the trees and the undergrowth, nothing moved.

A blur of copper-red to his right startled him and he was shoved back. A sharp pain shot up through his elbow and back as he hit a tree’s thick trunk and the thing pinning him against it towered above him by at least a foot. He was held down by human like hands, a deer or horse like lower body, lean and powerful. The top half could have passed for human if not for the antlers and coarse exaggerated hairline. Thin slit-like pupils watched him and a low rumble that was not quite a growl made him hesitate rather than fight back. He was certain he could throw this creature away if he wanted to. A part of his mind begged him to do so with only a flick of his fingers. Ben could feel the pressure on his chest and arms, pressure that might break the bones if his attacker were less controlled.

He slipped a knife from his pocket and caught it against the back of the creature’s arm. It reared back and darted out of reach in an attempt to escape. It reached no more than a dozen feet when Ben threw out an arm and froze the creature in its tracks.

He held it there as he checked himself over and found nothing more than soon to heal bruises. He took a moment, reached for his notebook, and then decided against it. He would have plenty of time to write down his thoughts later.

He circled to face the creature slowly and there was panic in its eyes. Straining against an invisible grip that held it perfectly still.

“I’m not going to touch you. I just wanted to see,” Ben said but it did nothing to ease the tension in every muscle of the creature before him.

“You’re quite something aren’t you,” Ben said as circled the creature. He held his hand out an inch or so away from it’s haunch and felt its heat and when he reached out with the Force he could feel the strength in its muscles as its heartbeat raced. Ben took the final step to face the creature and it stared down at him.

 

 

“Really something,” He muttered.

He was about to reach inside the creature’s mind when a bird swooped low overhead and Ben’s concentration broke. The creature reared up and nearly fell back on its hind legs at the suddenness of its escape. Ben cursed and pitched himself back. He threw himself to one side to avoid being caught by one of its hooves as the creature turned tail and took off into the trees.

Ben shoved himself up and raced after it, but his own speed was nothing compared to four legs and a body built for the environment that surrounded them. He tried to follow its path but the evidence of it’s presence soon dissipated. Even when he had resigned himself to losing his object of study, Ben futily stared out through the trees to trace the creature’s presence.

 

As he walked back towards the edge of the trees he felt like there were eyes on him, but each time he turned to look toward the forest there was nothing to suggest the creature had returned. He hesitated as he neared the edge of the forest and, a few metres from the edge of the trees, he turned to look back and reached out with his mind. The creature had long since left and yet Ben remained reluctant to leave without seeing it again. The closest intelligent minds were those of his parents and Mirax.

In his mind he heard Mirax ask a droid if they were ready to take off. The engines of her ship whirred and Ben quickened his steps back to the edge of the clearing to see Mirax’s ship had already taken off. The Falcon groaned as it was lifted alongside.

Panic shot through the Force from his parents and as he stepped out into view the whir of the motors slowed and the gangway lowered. He ducked his head against the strength of the winds coming from the exhausts and pulled himself up the walkway and inside. He turned away from the feeling of multiple minds, which he presumed was the cockpit, and went to find somewhere to sit.

The ship rumbled to life once more and, not thirty seconds after they’d taken off and the ship was steady in the air did Han turn the corner. Ben sank into the seat he’d found and tried not to touch the crates of bacta gel stacked on either side of him.

“Where the hell did you wander off to?” Han asked. Ben kept his eyes on his rucksack in his hands.

“Wasn’t going to stick around where I wasn’t wanted,” He said and wrapped the cord of his bag around the back of his hand and clenched it into a fist. There was a sudden feel of static in the air and Ben took Han’s huff to mean he’d noticed it too. Ben tried to stop the energy building but he couldn’t tell if he was making it better or worse. He felt sick with a tension in his gut.

“Next time give us a heads up, kiddo,” Han said after a little while.

“You never give us a heads up before you vanish,” Ben said through gritted teeth.

“I don’t have supernatural mind powers to track you down,” Han said.

“And what’s Mom’s excuse?” Ben snapped. He felt the disappointment from his father hit him like a bad smell on the air. He looked up to see Han shaking his head before he turned tail and returned to the cockpit.

Ben shot a glance around the room and, when he saw a discarded crate, he focussed his frustration on it and the crate that was several feet across from him imploded into a tangled mess the size of his fist. He sighed at the release and, though his hands were still shaking, he felt his control coming back to him. With a slow wave of his hand he swept the compacted crate out of sight behind a stack of junk and hoped it wouldn’t be found or mentioned.

He pushed the junk from a corner of the table and pulled out his journal and pen. Luxuries on planets across the galaxy but there were times Ben didn’t know what he’d do without the feel of these two objects in his hands, with only his thoughts on the pages. He wrote about the creature until he heard the ship slow and maneuver to land.

Barely half an hour later the ship touched down and Mirax ushered his parents inside. Ben hesitated.

The building they set down in front of looked like a collection of habitation pods and transport crates. Different heights and shapes, like a child’s mismatched playset on a much larger scale. He glanced back to the Falcon as it creaked and settled behind them in a clearing that stretched a quarter of a mile and was lined with spotlights. Beyond that was the dense woodland that covered the planet. He traced the edge of the trees with his eyes and felt a smile grow. He raised a hand and pressed it over his inside jacket pocket. He hoped he’d get to fill some more pages of his journal before they left, but until then he’d keep it out of sight from prying eyes.

“You don’t want to head out there.” Mirax said from behind him. Ben turned when no-one else replied and he realised Mirax was talking to him.

“Why not?” He asked.

“Blasters won’t stop half the creatures out there. Everything’s still fighting to stay alive and they’re all stronger from the higher oxygen levels.”

“So what is out there?” Ben asked, “Do you have any environmental logs?” Mirax frowned.

“Not something we use,” Mirax said. Ben looked back to the treeline. “This is where my father used to dump traitors. There were never any life signs when we flew back past. If the weather ever starts turning, we can either lock everything down for a few days or fly out somewhere else,”

“Smuggler’s life then,” Ben said under his breath.

“I worked for your mother’s rebellion too,” Mirax said.

“For the legitimacy or the goodness of your heart?” Ben asked dryly, “Can’t imagine it was for the profit.”

“Little bit of both, Your mother can be very convincing,” Mirax said.

“She can be bull headed and will happily undermine your free will if it’s for the greater good.”

“Time may have given me the opportunity to reminisce.”

“Lucky you.” Ben said. Mirax hesitated.

“Come on inside. You can meet my daughter,” She said after a moment. Ben frowned, but by the time he had looked up, Mirax had already turned towards the house.

“She loves meeting new people,” Mirax said as she turned back to hold the door open for him.

On the other side he could see his parents already settling in. His mother looked up and caught his eye with a stern look. He sighed and followed them inside.

Mirax’s daughter, Jysella, was indeed enthusiastic about meeting new people. She was no more than eight and looked the spitting image of her mother. Jysella had found the most interesting conversation with his parents. She asked them about the planets they’d been to and the adventures that she’d heard of. She’d gasped when she’d been told that Luke Skywalker was related to them and only quieted when Mirax told her to go and clean up before dinner.

Ben had already made the excuse to settle his belongings in his guest room and subsequently had Leia insist that he rejoin the group. The building seemed overly warm and as one discomfort overtook another he removed his jacket and folded it in his lap. He sat in the corner chair and kept his mouth shut and his hands under his jacket. His mother had briefly warned him to keep his temper when Mirax was out of the room and had periodically shot him glances as the conversation glazed over sensitive Force related topics. Han’s offhand comments were what was most likely to prompt him to say something. Ben pinched the skin between his thumb and forefinger each time he thought about interjecting. The pain and the quiet manipulation of the Force were enough to distract himself temporarily, and experience told him not to imagine inflicting it on others in case his control slipped and he actualised his imagined thoughts.

He was infinitely grateful when Mirax announced that dinner was nearly ready and they all started to move into the next room over. Ben was the last of the group to follow them through and when he cast a look back a droid followed in their wake, clearing empty glasses and tidying Jysella’s discarded toys. It reached for Ben’s jacket but Ben pulled it to him with the Force and the Droid’s hand closed around thin air. When he turned back to the group he was half grateful that no one had seen him. Of the two remaining seats, one was beside his father, and the other between his mother and Jysella and thankfully close to the door. He hung his jacket over the back of his chair and sat as Mirax set a bubbly pot in the centre of the table. She lifted the lid and the smell of stewed meat and citrus filled the room. The smell twisted his stomach and he almost wished for the nutrient bars he’d left in the Falcon.

Still, he could distract himself with the food on his plate, another added bonus was that the conversation died down as everyone ate.

He cleared his plate quickly, trying not to focus on the taste and more on filling his empty stomach. He set his cutlery down and tentatively gauged the feeling of the rest of the group. He brushed their minds with the Force and found nothing but quiet contentment. He had questions and now was going to be as good a time as any. Leia would be loathe to scold him in front of their host and, although smugglers never did like giving away much about their safe-house and any key planets, he hoped Mirax might give him more in-depth answers as the conversation took root. He considered his words for a moment and just as his parents had both taken mouthfuls of food he spoke.

“What sort of stuff is on this planet anyway?” Ben asked just as there was a lull in the conversation and both of his parents had bitten into their food, “I couldn’t find it on any of our systems and the readouts failed by the time I got a chance to get anything from them,” Mirax shot him a look but he maintained his expression.

“There’s monsters in the forest,” Jysella said. When no one else answered he turned to her.

“Monsters?” Ben asked dryly.

“Yeah. There are monsters in the shadows. If they get you, you’ll never been seen again,” Jysella said,

“What do they look like?” Ben asked.

“They’re big,” Jycella said and continued to pick at her food.

“Big?” Ben prompted.

“And scary and they’re monsters,” she said as she picked at her food with her fork, “And dark. They live in the dark and they’re full of dark,”

“I’ve got plenty of darkness in me too, much to my parents’ regret,” Ben said and though he didn’t look up he could feel Leia’s temper growing.

“Your mum just doesn’t want you wandering off,” Ben said, “She might as well tell you a Sith lord camps out there. The second you get within spitting distance of the trees he’ll corrupt your mind and drag you off to do his bidding,” Ben said and grinned at Jycella as her eyes widened and fear crept into her mind. Stories of what the Sith could do with the Force.

“Ben,” His mother hissed at him yet he still didn’t look up at her. Jysella glanced between Ben and Leia and then cast a wary glance to her mother.

“So are you the only ones on this planet?” Ben asked Jysella, “Must be a reason why you’re here.” He shot a glance to Mirax. She’d narrowed her eyes and glanced to Han for a second before returning her suspicious gaze to Ben

“This is our summer home,” Jycella said and then added, “We come here to be just us.” Thoughts flickered through all the other minds in the room, desperate for him to play along with the lie. Smugglers and thieves were all the same.

“So is this summer on this planet or summer on your own planet?” Ben asked and the little girl frowned and looked at her food.

“We travel around a lot. We don’t get nearly long enough to see all there is to this universe,” Mirax said. Her tone was light but strained as she tried to keep her daughter reassured.

“I think most people find it easier to travel without kids,” Ben said and he felt his mother’s irritation grow and Han took another long drink, “And most people are smart enough to know that most of space looks the same,”

“Well, we like to all the same, don’t we Selly,” Mirax said then seemed to look over Ben’s head as she spoke to Leia. Ben sunk into his seat and picked at his remaining food as the conversation continued on around him. He didn’t bother to keep track of where the conversation led and after a few minutes more he stood and left the table without a look back. He reached his room and cursed under his breath. His jacket and journal were still on the back of the chair.

 

He sat cross legged on the floor next to the bed. The light was dim and no amount of engineering, mechanical or Force based interference would incite it to shine a shade brighter. Regardless, he took out various pieces of casing and circuitry from his pack.

Despite his best concentration, the pieces refused to connect in the way they were meant to. The design he’d initially followed he’d been forced to leave behind on a planet a long two years ago. No doubt secreted into some rich person’s archive or vault. Memory gave him the design, but the Force was fickle when he asked it to shape the humble bits of metal and kyber into a suitable weapon.

He carefully lifted the pieces one by one with Force, and as they circled each other in the air in front of him, he reach out to feel the way the Force pushed and pulled against them. If he did this right, the pieces would work their way into a stable design.

“What in hells do you think you’re doing?” Han said. His voice was raised but not enough that Mirax and her daughter could likely hear it from the communal areas. Ben startled and winced as the pieces dropped and scattered across the floor like mice running for cover. He glared up at his father.

“You mother and I agreed, no lightsaber,” Han said.

“Yeah, _I_ wasn’t a part of that discussion,” Ben snapped, “I have the Force at my beck and call. I should have a lightsaber,”

“Far as I know that’s something Jedi earn when they learn control,” Han shot back, “And three days ago you shorted out a jumper and threw someone ten foot because they patted you on the back.”

“He shouldn't have touched me,” Ben muttered. Invasions of his personal space was jarring. As the vendor had set his hand on Ben’s shoulder he’d felt the man’s mind focus on him. A sickening crack like a joint snapping into place, a feeling deep in his stomach of distrust and manipulation. He’d reacted before his thoughts had caught up with his body’s revulsion and the man flew backwards through the air into his market stall.

“He patted you on the back, he didn’t level a blaster at you,” Han argued.

“Han,” Leia said. Ben hadn’t noticed her approaching in the corridor but she kept her thoughts especially private these days, only projecting when she was particularly distracted. He ran a hand through his hair and pulled it briefly so hard that it hurt and he glared down as the pieces of casing.

“None of us have ever needed a lightsaber in defense,” he said, “You need a good ship and a good blaster,”

“This is our heritage,” Leia said,

“I was born to wield this power!” Ben started as he shoved himself up to his feet to face them both, “Darth Vader’s power runs in MY veins!”

“You are not dark, Ben!” Leia snapped

“How would you know?” Ben asked dryly.

“Too much Vader in him. Always has been,” Han muttered as he turned away from Ben towards the doorway.

“For someone who never talks about their own family-,” Ben started but was cut off by Leia who stepped between them both.

“You don’t need to prove whatever this is you’re trying to,” She said. Her words were a firm warning that prickled Ben’s mind with the Force. If she wasn’t talking to a Force user, she might have convinced them to back down.

“When you don’t know real power, you don’t know what it’s like to learn to control it,” Ben said and shot his father a look.

“You dropped out of Jedi Training,” Han snapped,“Luke could have taught you control.”

“I don’t agree with the Jedi,” Ben said slowly. He’d made his argument a hundred times over.

“You want to have a lightsaber, fine. But you won’t be waving about any Sith blade,” Han snapped. He moved to step around Leia and Ben saw in his mind he planned to take the kyber crystal Ben was seconds from throwing him back out of his room with the Force but as he struggled to keep his outburst in check Leia reached for the crystal first. She wrapped the crystal in a piece of cloth and tuck it into her pocket. Ben held his hands in tight fists and willed down his imminent outburst.

“We’ll talk when we’ve all calmed down,” Leia said and turned on the spot. His father hesitated a moment, sighed, and then followed her out. Ben waited only until they were in the corridor before slamming the door with a wave of his hand.

 

Ben lay awake as usual and listened the the hum of the generators behind the wall he slept against. His parents had gone to bed more than an hour ago, arguing in the corridor, his mother’s voice the only one he could make out. Even if he hadn’t heard the words he could have guessed they’d be arguing about him.

The bare room was a blessed relief to his senses, the thick walls blocking out most of the extraneous noise, with his bag of belongings shoved under the bed the room was perfect for meditation and when the rest of the house had gone quiet Ben slipped from the bed to sit on the floor and attempted to centre himself.

When he meditated it was like following a piece of string in the darkness. He wasn’t sure if he was following it towards the light or the dark, or if he’d found the string at all and he was being led by some other impulse than the Force.

The tighter he tried to hold onto the slip of string, the more it slipped through his fingers and threw him from his meditative state. He pushed himself up off the floor, a cry from a bird outside caught his attention and he turned to the window.

He frowned when he found the window locked but with a flick of his fingers the lock clicked The hinge on the window wasn’t often used and when Ben pushed at it a little too hard it jolted and the frame hit the wall behind. He winced and reached out to feel if anyone had heard him. The house was full of muted minds; all still asleep.

Ben leant against his crossed arms on windowsill and took a deep breath of air. A metallic taste on the humid air suggested just why they kept the windows shut and the air recycled. You could easily get used to living on a ship.

The Falcon had been left a few hundred metres away from the house and though the clearing around the house was lit by floodlights, the Falcon seemed sat on the far edge of their reach, shrouded in shadow it felt further away. Mirax had mentioned that they kept the lights on around the clearing all night to keep the wildlife away though as he stared out across the clearing the number of bugs in the air and birds or bats swooping down to feast on them made him wonder just what she thought they were keeping away.

A movement caught his eye. Something bigger than he expected any animal to be, seemingly inspecting the hull. The creature looked close to that of a horse from this distance but the chest extended up that could have been human. He wondered if it might have been the same creature as before. The underside of the Falcon was in darkness but he hoped to catch a glint of red hair or that the creature might be inclined to venture towards the house. Ben reached for his journal from his rucksack behind him and scowled when he remembered it was in his jacket. His jacket which he’d forgotten on the back on the chair where they had dinner. He could attempt to fetch it and risk disturbing the rest of the house, and lose the chance to see the creature up close once again.

He squinted to try and figure out the creature’s proportions, how big it was compared to the panel beside it, how it was examining their ship.

He leant forwards to judge the distance from his window to the ground, the building only had one level but was built on a mound of solid rock that lifted it another half a story up. He could sleep through tomorrow once his parents were awake. The jump down would be easy, perhaps less so to get back up in through the small gap.

He cast another glance up ahead to the Falcon and the shadow of a creature beneath it. He steadied himself over the windowsill shimmied to the edge and jumped. He landed light on his feet and ducked close to the ground. He couldn’t see the creature, nor the lower edge of the Falcon from his position. He stepped lightly over cables and leaves and to the edge of the trees so that he might stay out of sight as he neared the ship. The layer of dew across the grass was cold on his bare feet. He kept his eyes on where he expected the creature to be and tried to feel with the Force if he was nearing its position.

As he concentrated he could hear it moving around the Falcon, a faint scrape of its fingers against the hull and an intermittent huff that Ben presumed was it sniffing foreign scents. He crouched closer still to the ground as he stepped out of the cover of the trees and to where he hoped to come face to face with whatever creature unknowingly waited just out of sight.

He took a deep breath and leaned around the hull of the ship. His eyes landed on a weapon levelled at him. He swore and ducked as a projectile flew over his head. As Ben retreated a few steps he realised the creature stood before him was similar to, if not the same one he’d met before. Ginger hair and pale skin down to its waist. His heart picked up a little despite his half hearted attempt to centre himself. The creature levelled another arrow at him though with a wave of his hand the bow flew from the creature’s hands. He expected the creature to bolt without its weapon but it looked just as likely to charge at him. The creature hissed and Ben could see its sharp pointed teeth and claws.

“I don’t know if you can understand me,” He said as he tried to keep as still as possible, “But did I meet you before? Earlier today,” He waited a moment but the creature made no move to reply nor escape. The bow surely meant a higher intelligence, likely knowledge passed down from others.

“You’re investigating our ship, but you wouldn’t be able to fly it,” Ben said, “It’s designed for bipedals.” He wondered how long the creature could watch him for. It’s ear twitched and it’s narrow eyes seemed to regard him even more distastefully. “Humans, or at least creatures with two legs not four,” Ben said, “Do you understand what it does?”

“You arrive, destroy, hurt,” The creature said

“You speak Basic?” Ben said, his intrigue with the creature grew further at the possibilities of learning from such a source, “How did you learn?”

“There,” The creature touched pointed toward the house and then touched it’s ear, “I understand. I-” He moved his hand up from his throat to his lips.

“Speak, you can speak Basic,” Ben suggested and the creature stared back at him for a moment.

“Yes,” It said.

“But they wouldn’t have taught you,” Ben said. The creature continued to frown and didn’t appear to understand. “What’s your name? You,” Ben pointed towards the creature as he spoke “What are you called?” It took a wary step back as it watched his movement. “I’m Ben,” He touched his chest, “Ben.”

“Ben,” It said, “Ben,” He huffed and stood, looking off through the trees.

He touched his fingers to his throat, “Hux,”

“Hucks?” Ben said and the creature narrowed its eyes and made a harsh scoffing noise in the back of it’s throat.

“Eh-cuh-ss,” The creature said, “Huh, uh, cuh-ss,”

“Hux?” Ben repeated back. The creature looked at his warily and chuffed. Ben assumed he’d hit the right pronunciation and took a careful step forwards. “Are there more of you?” He asked

“Yes,” Hux said, though Ben wasn’t entirely sure he understood the question. Hux kept Ben in his line of vision though his gaze flit from past him to the house or back into the trees.

“There’s no-one there,” Ben said though Hux only spared him a glance.

“More. ” He waved again back towards the house, “More of you,”

“We only just got here, there are five people and a few droids,” Ben explained.

“Droids?” Hux asked.

“Uh, yeah. Robots. Mechs,” Ben said, “They’re not flesh, they’re made of parts,”

“Mechs?” Hux repeated back to him again.

“Yeah. Uh, maybe it’d be easier to show you,” He leant back and found the entry release and behind Hux the gangway dropped from the ship. Hux startled and bared his teeth. He hissed through his teeth and set his back against the ship and shot glances between Ben and the gangway.

“It’s okay. That’s how we get onboard, inside the ship. I can show you,” Ben said as he slowly moved around Hux. “You’re interested, I can tell,” Hux moved to face Ben as he circled around him and took a step back towards the forest as Ben ducked under the entrance. He reached inside to flick the lights on, enough to light the underside of the ship and the hallways just inside.

When he looked back towards Hux it was to see him cantering into the trees. He wasn’t sprinting and though Ben could have caught him with relative ease he didn’t. Disappointment curled in his chest. He averted his eyes to the floor as he stomped inside the ship. His fists were clenched so tightly that his hands vibrated. He cursed under his breath and then again louder and the ship around him creaks and shuddered with the Force brimming at his fingertips.

He paced the corridors until his mind stopped reminding him how easily he let another opportunity escape him. He’d hoped stupidly, that the creature was as fascinated by him as he was by it.

Ben looked up at the ceiling and traced the burnt out circuits with his eyes. Down the wall and to a junction box behind an inconspicuous panel. Or it would have been inconspicuous if not for the blackened marks around the edges. This may not have been the break that caused the most damage but it would need fixing all the same. He stepped up to it and ran his finger along the groove until he could feel the right pressure point to release and slide the panel away from the rest.

He set it on the other side of the corridor and turned back to the circuits beneath. Scorch marks and the faint smell of melted plastic greeted him first but there didn’t appear to be anything toxic remaining. He picked at the wires, mentally cataloguing what was damaged, what led to different systems and then he went in search of his tools. As he headed for his bunk R2 powered on and beeped in greeting.

“Hey R2,” Ben said as he passed. R2 held grudges if he wasn’t acknowledged, a result of too many decades since he was last wiped and the droid had developed more personality than half the members of parliament from the last planet his mother negotiated on.

“Have you done a full assessment yet?” He asked it as he heard it bump over the patch of uneven floor. R2 beeped indignantly.

“Okay then,” Ben said as he pulled his toolbox from beneath his bunk, “What can’t be fixed?” He asked R2 who listed off the worst of the damage. “Hyperdrive. So we can still get her flying short range? You work on communications, I’ll fix...” The droid had already turned and trundled off to the cockpit, “Whatever,”

 

It was easy to let the time pass as he moved through the lesser damage. He started at the panel he’d initially uncovered. Some wires had needed replacing entirely and others seemed to have survived unscathed. When the one panel was complete he moved on to the next. The life support systems had been badly damaged when toxic and corrosive fumes had been drawn out through the ventilation. He was able to patch most of it and the sections he couldn’t patch he could temporarily isolate from the overall system. From there he moved on the more substantial systems. The longer he worked the more mess he left behind, panels left bare and floor panels uprooted. By the time the dawn broke on the horizon after a long night Ben could feel the ship rumble to life beneath him.

For a brief minute he wondered if he would soon have the household jumping from their beds to find out what new ship had discovered them and decided to fly so close. Then he couldn’t much care as R2-D2 chirped excitedly beside him.

“Five minutes in the air,” Ben said as he dropped into the pilot seat, “Keep an eye out for trouble,”

R2 plugged into the console behind the co-pilot seat and Ben watched the interfaces run a brief diagnostics before he prepped the ship for take off.

 

Ben’s hands were tight around the steering. The Falcon pulled against him but the repairs would hold. He circles low over the trees for tens of miles before he circled back around. As he returned to the landing site he saw a flash of copper red moving through the trees.

He strained to see if he can catch a further glimpse but as he leant forward the ship’s steering lurched and she skimmed the trees. The impact knocked their trajectory and R2 scolded him impatiently. Ben hastily corrected their descent. The landing gear came down too slowly while his far more interesting study was close enough to pursue.

The Millennium Falcon finally settled down and Ben pushed himself up and headed back into the ship to clear up. As he opened the door Han was stood just outside arms crossed and looking up skeptically.

“Think you’ve fixed her then?” Han asked as he stepped past him and headed for the consoles. Ben bristled when he saw Han has his canvas bag and leather jacket in one hand.

“She’s flying, not crashing,” Ben said. He followed Han through the ship and was only minutely grateful when Han threw Ben’s rucksack and jacket on to the passenger seats in the cockpit in favour of scrolling through the screens.

“Not what that landing looked like,” Han said and headed back into the ship to interfere with everything Ben had just fixed, “Should have left it to me, I know her inside and out,” He hummed under his breath and then headed into the back where Ben’s fixes were on show. Ben purposefully unfurled his fists and tried to relax. His lack of sleep wouldn’t help him keep his temper.

“Which is why Chewie spends all his time fixing it?” Ben asked in a dry tone.

“We’d all spend less time fixing things if you stopped throwing things about with the Force,” Han said under his breath as he flicked through

“We didn’t crash because of me,” Ben said and crossed his arms across his chest.

“It’s in your veins Ben,” Mirax said and Ben turned on the spot to see her stepping onboard, “Solos can talk themselves out of anything because they end up in enough situations that they need to,” She said and cast a cursory look over the scanners to her left, “Organa’s aren’t much better from what I’ve seen,”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Ben snapped and grabbed his bag and jacket from the passenger seat.

“Jycella was hoping you’d be able to tell her some of your stories over breakfast,” Mirax said and offered a hopeful smile.

 

“I’m not a babysitter,” Ben deadpanned.

“I wasn’t under the impression my daughter needed one,” Mirax said, her cheerful demeanor dropped to match his. She straightened her stance and Ben had the distinct impression she was squaring off to him. “She’s a little girl who likes stories. With a father like yours I’m sure you were the same,”

“All I heard were war stories and lies,” Ben said, and shot Han a look, “I didn’t get much sleep, I’m going back to bed,”

He grabbed half a dozen nutrient bars and shoved them into his bag and then headed back to the house. Leia and Jysella were in the living space and Ben was grateful to avoid them as he turned towards the guest room. He’d almost reached his door when he felt his mother’s presence in the corridor behind him.

“We will need to talk Ben,” She called out to him, “That lightsaber is just the tip of the iceberg,”

“When do you have time in your schedule, three weeks from never?” Ben said under his breath

“I have time when you want to approach this reasonably,” She said, “Your father does too.”

“He doesn’t understand what I have in me,” Ben said as he tore into the nutrient bars and shoved the wrappers back into his bag. “None of you do,”

“Then maybe you’re making too much of whatever’s going on in your head,” Leia said, “You need to keep your thoughts in the present,”

“I’m sure there’s plenty I _should_ be doing according to you and everyone else,” Ben snapped and turned back towards his room, “And instead... I’m going back to bed,”

Ben curled up on top of the bedcovers and tried to shut out the distractions around him. As usual sleep did not come easily and instead he found himself focussing on the distractions. The threadbare sheets itched, the pillow smelled of old damp and the far off rumble of the Falcon’s engines ticking over reverberated through the walls. Closer still were the errant thoughts of Mirax and Jysella and the familiar static around his mother’s thoughts. After an hour or so he heard her approach his door and the sliver of light from the hallway grew.

“Ben,” Leia asked at the door, ”Are you awake?” She would have been able to tell if he were awake but the last thing he wanted was to invite her in. “There’s lunch in the dining room when you want it,” She said quietly and then after a few seconds he heard her footfalls down the corridor.

Ben stayed in bed for as long as he could but in the distance, he could hear his mother talking to Mirax. He heard them laugh between themselves and he shoved himself up to his feet. He would never sleep with the distraction.

As he stormed past the door of the living space they glanced up and their conversation halted. Ben gathered some dry bread and pieces of fruit from the table and shoved them into his bag. He glanced up as Mirax shared a look with his mother and they glanced back to him again. He scowled and headed back outside. He mentally gave the pneumatics of the door an extra push and the mechanisms shunted together with a bang at the last second. It gave him a brief moment of satisfaction as he stood just outside.

He scanned the areas and then headed for the forest’s edge again. The sun shone down bright but cool and Ben settled himself down at the base of a tree, his bag at his side and his jacket rolled up behind his head as a pillow. His back was to the tree and he was out of view of both the house and the Falcon so there was little chance of being disturbed.

He ate the fruit as he watched the birds scatter in flocks from the canopy into the open air and back again. Juice from the fruit dripped down his fingers and when only the core, shell and seeds of the fruit were left he threw them deep into the undergrowth.

With his mind quiet and his stomach filled, he finally felt at ease. He shut his eyes and his exhaustion pulled hims into a light doze.

He realised he must have slept for some time as the sun had climbed higher in the sky and he had to brush off half a dozen twigs and leaves that had fallen across him. He glanced up at a movement in the brush a few metres away. He saw Hux watching him through the trees and grinned. Hux turned away and then glanced back and beckoned to Ben. Ben scrambled to his feet and shouldered his bag in his rush to follow Hux deeper into the forest.

 

 

“I didn’t know whether you’d come back,” Ben said as he caught up with Hux. Hux maintained a couple of feet of distance between them and dipped his head in greeting. Ben nodded in return and Hux met his eye. Hux’s mind felt calm but Ben was wary about looking too deeply.

“Where are we going?” Ben asked as he ducked under a low branch that Hux had circled to avoid.

“You eat,” Hux said and looked at Ben in search of what he assumed was confirmation.

“Yeah,” Ben said

“There,” Hux pointed across to small orange berries hanging from a low branch, “You can eat,”

“What is it?” Ben asked.

“Kas. Eat,” Hux urged him and pulled a handful of berries down and pushed them into Ben’s hand “Eat,” Hux touched his throat and motioned swallowing. Hux reached for a handful of berries himself and repeated the action.

Ben lifted the handful of berries to his mouth and Hux motioned for him to eat and swallow them again. They smelled sour but that was nothing compared to the dryness as they rolled over his tongue. He swallowed them quickly and coughed as their juice caught in his throat.

“Are they a delicacy or something?” Ben asked as Hux looked on eagerly.

“What?” Hux asked and tapped his ear.

“Are they for special occasions? Not eaten very often,” Ben asked. Hux chuffed, a click in his throat and he bared his teeth in a twisted smile.

“No. They are not eaten,”

“What?” Ben asked. He tried to scan Hux’s mind and felt an anticipation there like a shooting star in the night. It grew brighter and Ben sought to look deeper when a sharp pain twisted his gut and he had to reach out to steady himself on a nearby tree.

“You don’t want me dead. I’d feel that,” Ben said but he couldn’t think clearly enough to search Hux’s mind for the answer. Hux stepped forwards and Ben felt Hux’s hand grasp his upper arms and his claws sharp against his skin. He couldn’t think clearly and his vision began to blur before it faded altogether. He felt his knees give out from beneath him but didn’t feel himself hit the floor.

 

He wakes up and he’s in a different part of the forest. He’s lying on his side and his arm is trapped and numb beneath him. There’s a ringing in his ears above the trickle of a stream which he realises is a few feet in front of him as he eyes refocus. He reaches for it, for water to wash away the remaining dryness in his mouth and his limbs ache too deeply to move far enough. He groaned and tried to feel out how long his body will take to recover. The berries’ effects were fading surprisingly fast and leaving in their wake stiffness, and a tingling in his skin that varied from pins and needles to sharp burning sensations that seemed to cover his upper thighs and the front of his calves.

“You won’t move.” At the sound of familiar stunted speech Ben twisted as best his could to see Hux sat off to one side of him, out of reach even if he could move at this point.

Hux was intently focussed on him. His mind projecting images of hostility interspersed with eager anticipation. He meets Hux’s gaze and the feelings quietened.

“You drugged me,” Ben said as he tried to push back the feeling of static in his hands. He stretched out his fingers into the dirt. Ben could feel his heart rate pick up but the Force was calm. The rush he felt felt more like nervous energy, but Hux wasn’t a substantial threat. His hands shook despite his attempts to keep them steady.

“Fool,” Hux sneered.

“You can’t have carried me far, it’s still light out,” Ben said and glanced up to a break in the trees up above that was still drenched in the pale yellow light.

“You will stay or you will die,” Hux said and a half smile revealed his sharp spiked teeth, “You should stay,”

“With such an attractive alternative. I can’t think of anything better,” Ben muttered and rolled his eyes. “Does this wear off?” He asked. He looked up to see Hux baring his teeth on one side. It might have been a smile.

“Soon,” Hux said, “Then you work,”

“Work?” Ben asked, “Doing what?” Hux chuffed.

“Okay then,-” Ben said, he reached out to the creature’s mind, searching for what it meant by work. A rock hit him hard on the shoulder and he gasped and glared back at Hux. Hux hissed and pressed one hand hard against his forehead.

“I have power you can’t imagine,” Ben said and he let the Force filter into his words and Hux regarded him suspiciously. He glanced around the trees and up, no doubt looking for the source of Ben’s power.

“Strong. Stupid,” Hux said when he looked back.

“Better than weak and stupid. I take it your species don’t have the equivalent of a mirror,” Ben said. Hux squinted at him but didn’t reply.

Hux stood and crossed the gap between them. Ben wondered briefly if he was going to be knocked out or worse. Instead Hux grabbed Ben’s arm and pulled him up sharply to a sitting position. Ben gasped as blood flooded back into his arm that had been trapped beneath him. Hux pushed him back until Ben had his back against a tree for support and leant down into Ben’s space. His pupils were dark and he smiled with his mouth full of razor sharp teeth. The word carnivore flit through Ben’s mind

“How do you?” Hux asked as he motioned to his head and brandished his claws.

“Magic,” Ben said. He scanned Hux’s eyes and mouth, cataloguing the characteristics.

“Mah-gic,” Hux repeated slowly, and his claws dug into Ben’s shoulder though they didn’t break the skin. “What is magic?”

“Okay, so not magic,” Ben said and huffed as he tried to shift his position. A stick dug into his leg hard but he could neither dislodge it with his mind or move his sluggish limbs enough to move it, “It’s called the Force. Some people, and creatures are able to sense the, uh, energy around everything,”

“I know,” Hux said and nodded seriously.

“You know?” Ben asked. As clever as Hux was Ben hadn’t see and evidence of Force users on the planet much less evidence of a species aware of it.

“Yes,” Hux nodded and turned away. He walked out of sight and Ben could do little more than watch him go. Ben wondered if he was going to be left here.

It took some time, half an hour if Ben were to guess at the time without any of his devices, but Ben was able to move his limbs and with a little push from the Force he was able to stand despite his shaky legs.

“Good,” Hux said. Ben looked up to see him on the other side of the stream. He had Ben’s jacket and bag in his hands and another bag across his upper back, a woven strap at a diagonal across his chest.

“Give me those.” Ben said and reached out. He’d have pulled the objects to him with the Force if he thought he had recovered enough control over himself not to pull Hux across the clearing at speed also.

“What?” Hux asked and kept them out of reach, “Tell me, what?” He waved the bag and jacket.

“That,” He pointed to his leather Jacket in Hux’s right hand, “Is my jacket. A coat, I wear it. It keeps me warm. Like a protective layer,”

“Clothes,” Hux said, “Yes?” He asked.

“Yeah, clothes. Not a weapon if that’s what you’re worried about,”

“Worry?” Hux asked and frowned

“Fear, scared. When you think something bad is going to happen,” Ben said and waved a hand in Hux’s direction.

“No.” Hux threw Ben’s jacket at him,“I am not scared,”. Ben caught it and felt the outline of his journal through the front pocket. When he looked up Hux was peering into his canvas bag. Hux snorted and shot a look towards Ben.

“Show me,” Hux threw the bag at him. Ben winced at the sound of the contents rattling against each other. He cast a wary look inside and couldn’t spot anything missing or too damaged.

“Are you going to be making notes or…” Ben asked. Hux crossed the stream and gestured to the bag.

“Show me.” Hux demanded again.

“So there are a few nutrient bars,” He pulled a handful out, offered them to Hux who eyed them warily. Ben shoved two into his pocket and dropped the others back into the bag.

“They’re food, you eat it,” Ben said and gestured to his mouth. “Like the fruit you drugged me with,”

“These cause sleep?” Hux asked and reached for it. Ben held it out and Hux took the small fruit carefully in both hands. He kept his eyes on Ben as he sniffed it.

“No, they’re just food,” Ben said. Hux turned it in his hands from one side to the other and then with both hands twisted it sharply and the fruit tore apart into two halves.

“Show me,”

“This bit is what you eat,” Ben said and pointed to the segments inside. He held Hux’s hand steady as he peeled one segment from the skin and ate it. Hux peeled a second piece and held it up in front of himself he squeezed it between his fingers and the juice ran down the back of his hand. He looked up at Ben and held it out.

“Uh, thanks.” Ben said and took it.

“Eat,”

“Sure,” Ben nodded and ate the fruit as ordered. Hux snorted but seemed satisfied enough. He pulled his own bag from his back and set the fruit inside. He turned back to Ben and gestured to the bag in his hands.

“Show me,” Hux demanded again. Ben thought about warning him of the mess he’d find his bag in if the fruit was squashed. Then he decided against it. If Hux was going to steal his food he could deal with the consequences. He pulled out the lightsaber casing and electronics.

“These _are_ part of weapon I’m building, but I don’t have the crystal for it so it can’t work yet,” Ben said. He ran his fingers over the indentations of the casing. It seemed so simple how the whole piece would come together

“Crystal?” Hux asked.

“Yeah, a kyber crystal or synthetic . They’re pretty rare, especially unblemished ones. They’re like, like solid sunlight,”

“And it doesn’t work,” Hux repeated.

“No,”

“Good,” Hux said and as he peered down at the pieces Ben thought he looked pleased with himself. He thought about reaching for Hux’s mind again and then considered that if he continued this pretense he might be allowed to look without deception. He dug his hand back into his bag and pulled out the next thing to show Hux.

“Then more clothes, bottle of water, some bacta. We use that for healing. The rest is just rubbish, really there’s not a lot,” Ben said and shrugged. Hux reached across between them and pulled at the opening of Ben’s bag to look inside again.

“This is what you need, to live.” Hux asked as he looked up at Ben and cocked his head to one side.

“Yeah. Food, water, shelter,”

“What is shelter?” “Like the…clothes” Hux asked and gestured a large box shape in the air.

“No, shelter is somewhere safe to sleep. Somewhere warm, protected.”

“You need shelter to sleep? To live?” Hux asked

Ben nodded and then when he realised Hux might not understand the gesture he answered.

“We will move,” Hux said and nodded sharply in return, “Come with me.”

“Gladly,” Ben said under his breath, he tested his balance with a couple of steps and with a quick glance around through the trees he followed Hux’s path. There was no way he was leaving Hux’s side yet. Hux was the most fascinating creature he’d met in years.

 

They cut through the undergrowth until they reached a deep furrow in the ground and then Hux ushered him down into it. Eight feet across and cut low enough into the ground that Hux could only just see over its banks. Ben could see little but the fallen soil and bare roots. Ben thought it used to be a waterway but had long since dried out. There were hoofprints going in both directions but not enough that it couldn’t have been from Hux’s journeys alone.

Ben realised a couple of miles into their trek that as long as he was walking in the right general direction he could slow a certain amount without Hux turning and urging him on. The forest was full of new plants and insects he couldn’t help but study and catalogue, albeit briefly. When he was sure that Hux was not paying attention he pulled his journal from his jacket pocket and slowed for long enough to jot down observations and sketches of anything of particular interest.

Ben hadn’t been paying much attention to anything other than putting one foot in front of the other for what felt like hours now. Hux’s emotions were unchanging, yet this was the most interesting thing to happen to him in months. Kidnapped by a subject of his study. He glanced at Hux idling up ahead. Ben wondered whether he even wanted Ben to be following at this point or whether Hux had expected him to fall behind lost in the woods.

Each time his eyes drifted to something interesting he would attempt to reach for his journal and Hux shot him an unimpressed look. When Hux was far enough ahead of him he could attempt to make notes or take a sample but it wasn’t long before Hux stood waiting for him to catch up

“What are the walls from?” Ben asked as he trailed his hands along the top of the grey bricks, each one at least a foot square and stacked three or four high in places. They were covered in veins of moss and lichen and dotted with tiny white and purple flowers. The hairs of the moss left his fingertips tacky and when he thought Hux wasn’t looking he wiped them across a page in his notebook. If it didn’t start eating away the skin of his fingers he’d get one of the droids to analyse it when he returned to civilisation.

“Tracks. They help us find home,” Hux said and shot a look back, “We add when it breaks,” Ben snapped the book shut.

“Are there more species than just you?” Ben asked, “Other creatures?”

“Life,” Hux said and gestured around them, “Yes?”

“Yes, well no. Intelligent species,” Ben asked, Hux scoffed

“Intelligent,” Hux said slowly, “Like you?”

“Like you,” Ben said, “You act on more than instinct,”

Hux watched him for a moment before he returned his gaze to ahead of them and remained quiet on the subject.

The weather turned and the rain began to filter through the canopy in heavy droplets. He regretted that his layers of clothes were more adapted to the regulated environment of the ship.

Strong winds rumbled through the trees above them. And Ben tripped twice as he stared up to watch the canopy roll in green waves.

“Here,” Hux said and Ben’s attention snapped back the creature ahead of him, “Life breathes hard,” Hux wheezed and rasped his own breath. “You find hurt,”

“Hey I haven't done anything,” Ben said. Hux huffed and pointed on through the trees. Ben didn’t know what he was supposed to be looking at until a howl roared through the trees overhead and the ground ahead of him seemed the heave up before settling again and rippled up again. If he were inclined to believe in such, the ground could indeed be breathing.

“It hurts, I hurt, you hurt” “ Hux waved his hand to the trees around him and Ben could hear little more than the creak of branches in the wind. “It comes and leaves,”

“Natural phenomena then,” Ben suggested and was met by Hux’s frown, “Means it happens anyway,”

“The ground is...unnatural. Tells of bad endings,” Hux said.

“The breathing ground foretells bad omens?” Ben said as he stepped forwards and crouched to lay a hand on the ground closer to where the movement seemed to originate. “Nothing’s ever so straight-forward,” He said under his breath.

“It is true?” Hux asked as he too stepped forward, though not so far as his hooves touched the patch that heaved with every howl of the wind. “How do you know?”

“I have the Force. I feel how the Force moves through everything around me,”

“Your _species_ feels movement,” Hux asked.

“Kind of. The movement of things you don’t see. I can influence the Force too, like with the heat, or with living things,” Ben explained and glanced back over his shoulder to Hux who remained suspicious.

“Make a trap without touch,” Hux said

“Yeah, like when I trapped you,” Ben said.

“You did not,” Hux said firmly. He turned on the spot and began walking back the way they had come. Ben stood and for a few moments counted the beat of the gusts of wind. They were on the edge of a storm that would largely avoid them. He jogged to catch up with Hux

The path narrowed as they passed through some particularly thick undergrowth. Ben’s attention was drawn to the thin runners of a vine that waved in the air and seemed to reach for Hux as he passed in a wide circle around it. It surely mean it was attracted to either heat or movement. He reached out to take sample to press in the pages of his journal when a cry from up ahead caught his attention and Hux was charging towards him. Ben threw up his hands to defend himself Hux knocked him back and he fell to the ground hard.

Ben looked up to see the creature’s arm twisted in the vine as it spiralled up his arm to his torso and neck and he attempted to yank himself free. Hux hissed and kicked and the vine twisted ever tighter around the creature’s bulging muscles. Ben scrambled to his feet and reached for his blaster and cursed when he remembered he’d not kept it with him. He scrambled for the knife in the back of his boot and dodged Hux’s agitated movements to swipe at the vine with the blade.

 

 

He severed enough of the branches that Hux could pull free. Ben scrambled backwards as Hux pulled the smaller knots of vine from himself. He threw them to the ground and stomped on them for good measure. Hux stumbled to one side and when he’d found his balance he raised each arm up in turn to see the gashes that ran down them. Blood ran down their length and dripped from the elbow to the ground. His torso hadn’t fared much better and Ben watched as Hux pressed his fingers to the edge of the widest gash and winced.

“Do you have a way to treat that?” Ben asked. Hux didn’t seem to hear him. “Hux?”

Hux looked up but his eyes were unfocused and he stumbled to one side. His legs buckled beneath him and before Ben thought to react Hux fell to one side and hit the ground hard. Ben swore under his breath and shot forwards.

He dropped to his knees at Hux’s side and hands hovered over Hux’s shoulder and flank. Hux’s breathing was fast and shallow and Ben slipped into his mind without a second thought. Hux was in shock and Ben could only listen as Hux’s mind began to quieten from the widespread shock to his body.

“I.. I don’t know what to do,” Ben said, his voice shaking as Hux bled out beneath his hands. “You...you need to stop bleeding. I, I need to stop the bleeding,” He twisted and scanned the undergrowth for where he’d dropped his bag.

He spotted it amongst the undergrowth he reached out a hand and it came flying towards him with the Force. He rifled through it until he found the packet of bacta he’d stashed there for emergencies. He tore into it and pressed the gel to the deepest cuts across Hux’s chest. The meager amount only just covered the wounds Ben could see and he daren’t look up to see the pain across Hux’s face that he could feel radiating from him.

He dug his hand into Hux’s side and felt the spike of pain from Hux through the Force. Ben shut his eyes tight and tried to push it away. He willed with everything he knew of the Force for the bacta to work. The Force shouldn’t work like that but he’d been told enough times he had too much darkness in him and dark Force users had the potential to manipulate the life-force of others.

He could hear his parent’s voices, Luke’s voice. It wouldn’t be enough. The Force didn’t work like that. He begged in muttered words under his breath for the bleeding to stop, for the Force to heal.

Beneath his hands Hux took a deep slow breath and Ben couldn’t open his eyes to see Hux draw breath until the pain radiating from him in the Force had reduced and he’d counted another five deep steady breaths. A hand closed around his forearm and he looked up to Hux. Tears pricked Ben’s eyes and he blinked them down as he cast his eyes over the gashes. The cuts were raw but the bleeding had slowed to a stop. Blood matted Hux’s fur and Ben could only hope that any cuts on Hux’s side pressed into the ground had healed enough.

“Keep your eyes open and keep breathing okay,” Ben said. He refused to look away as Hux looked up at him. He looked tired and seconds from passing out again.

“I am not done,” Hux said, his voice faint and breaths laboured.

“Good,” Ben said. He nodded and turned his gaze to the cuts once again

“With you,” Hux said in his next breath. A near hysterical laugh escaped Ben and he grinned down at Hux.

“I knew you’d be interesting,” Ben said and rested his hand against Hux’s flank. His humour faded and his fingers skirted the edge of one of the cuts, “Have you been injured like this before?”

“Not now,” Hux said and as he spoke he shifted his arms in an attempt to push himself up.

“Now, like recently? Days, or seasons?” Ben asked and was met with a frown, “Like when the weather changes,” Ben explained. He hooked his arm behind Hux’s shoulders until Hux opened his eyes again and shot a look between Ben and where his hand had dropped to Hux’s lower back. Ben removed his hand immediately but he didn’t move any further away. The cuts on Hux’s other flank didn’t look as deep though dirt and moss had pressed into them when he’d fallen.

“Seasons,” Hux said, “More of the seasons. I have hurt before. I need to move,” Hux said “I need ...shelter”

“Shelter I can probably help with,” Ben said and looked around for what he could use. Hux’s hand closed around his forearm and his attention snapped back.

“No. I will move,” Hux snapped, “Do not stop me,”

 

“Can I help?” Ben asked dryly.

“Can you?” Hux asked, “Should I tell you what you can?”

“Hasn’t stopped you before,” Ben muttered.

The pair only walked another mile by Ben’s estimate before Hux was suffering too much from his injuries. Ben had been using the Force as subtly as he could manage to keep Hux on all fours. His front left leg kept slipping and giving way and each time Hux growled under his breath.

“We should stop. Find shelter for the night,” Ben said, “It’s going to be a mild night. I’ll be fine if you’re concerned,”

“I was not,” Hux said but he glanced back at Ben and surveyed Ben up and down, “We will stop. Not now,”

“You need to stop. You’re going to fall on your face,” Ben said and prodded Hux in his side.

“Not here.” Hux said and narrowed his eyes, “We will stop.” He turned away from Ben and pointed up ahead. “We will stop,”

Ben kept quiet from the next hundred metres or so, and then just as he was about to voice another suggestion Hux turned off down a path Ben wouldn’t have noticed if Hux had not been only a couple of feet ahead of him.

A path hidden from view by trees opened into a small rounded hole in the ground. A fallen tree acted as a canopy above them. Hux knelt down just inside the entrance and Ben crossed to the other side of the hollow

Ben settled down furthest from Hux and shoved as many fallen sticks as he could gather into a heap between them. He reached into his rucksack and sure enough his lighter lay hooked into the gap beneath the bottom seam. He flicked it on beneath the centre of the sticks and he pulled back quickly as the flame caught on the surrounding bracken piled on top.

Ben could feel Hux’s eyes on him and when he looked up his raised an eyebrow.

“You want to know how I did that?” Ben asked.

“Magic.” Hux scoffed and waved his fingers in Ben’s direction, “ _The Force_.” He said with as vague sarcasm reminiscent of Han.

“That’s not magic, that’s fire. And it’s definitely not the Force,” Ben motioned to the flames and the sparks twisted up into the air and circled like a halo above the crackling wood. Hux was transfixed and he reached out with one hand.

“I’m doing _that_ with the Force.” Ben said.

“How do I?” Hux asked as he eagerly reached a hand out the the fire.

“You can’t. If you’re not Force sensitive you can’t feel it,” Ben said. Hux’s expression twisted and he pulled his hand back sharply from the fire.

“Liar,” Hux hissed.

“Is this what you wanted me to teach you?” Ben asked, “I can’t. It’s not possible,”

“You go up, over the forest,” Hux gestured up with his hands and then brought them together swooping lower.

“I can’t teach you to fly either. Or build a ship. You’d need the materials to build one. You won’t find them here,” Ben explained. Hux frowned and puffed out his chest as he turned away.

“What use are you?” Hux said with a huff.

“Probably none at all,” Ben muttered.

 

Ben awoke to a sharp pinch to his arm. He startled as the cold air shocked him and there all around was pitch black. Faintly above him the sky through the trees cast only the faintest shapes of silhouettes around him.

“We must move.” Hux’s voice. Stunted and low but reassuring. A hand around Ben’s forearm pulled him up and his eyes were beginning to adjust as he was urged out of the hollow they’d sheltered in.

“Wait, I don’t have my bag,” Ben said and pulled against Hux’s grip.

“I have it, it is important to you,” Hux said, “Come to what is important to me,”

“Where are we going?” Ben asked.

“To the light,” Hux said. Ben stumbled and as he fell Hux’s grip tightened and he steadied himself on Hux’s flank. He pulled away quickly when he thought of the gashes.

“Are you okay to be walking again?”

“I am better when we get there” Hux said.

They hadn’t been walking for long before Ben started to be surer of his footings. Hux exuded warmth into his side and Ben leant into it against the chill in the air. The undergrowth was damp and his trousers were soon damp through.

Hux slowed and Ben waited a moment in case he was checking for anything approaching them before he spoke out.

“There’s nothing nearby, we’re okay,”

“I should not be here. I was left,”

“I don’t understand,” Ben said. Hux huffed.

“Be careful,” Hux said and they began walking again, A rocky cliff face rose up ahead of them and Hux turned left and they followed it for a few minutes more. Ben had lost track of time and distance , his only real sense of where they were going was the solid ring of warmth of Hux’s hand around his forearm, his fingers of that hand were freezing.

Ben shut his eyes and let Hux lead him and found that his feet still settled on solid ground. His thoughts, when they weren’t concentrating on his surrounding sensed something up ahead. The rock pulsed with the Force; hummed with it, sang like a siren’s call.

Hux stopped and Ben opened his eyes, Hux was looking into a cavern beside them that seemed streaked with veins of light. Hux let go of Ben’s hand and stepped past him.

“What is this place?” Ben asked but Hux didn’t seem to hear him. He stood close to the inner wall. His hand and forehead pressed against a sliver of light in the wall, against a crack that seemed to glow. An algae in the rock Ben supposed, rather than a mineral. Ben took another step forward and a low rumble came from Hux.

“What is this place?” Ben asked as he circled around Hux. “This is a sacred place right? Am I your sacrifice or something?”

“Not yet,” Hux said and ducked his head again. In the muted light of the the cavern walls Ben could see the gashes across Hux’s body, that looked to have continued bleeding, he was weak. And he was projecting a sad determination in waves.

“Not yet?” Ben started, “Hux?”

“You should not ask questions,” Hux said. His tone of voice was defeated and tired. “You will sleep again now. We both will,”

There they waited though Ben doubted whether either of them slept at all. He was wrong in that. Hux was exhausted by his injuries and passed out into vivid nightmarish sleep. Ben leant up against a blank patch of wall. Hux had been particular that he should not touch the veins of light in the walls. He watched as Hux twitched and shuddered in his sleep but he could feel that there was no fever in his wounds yet. He concentrated on Hux’s consciousness and tried to find a way to see what Hux’s mind was processing as unobtrusively as possible.

Hux flinched in his sleep and Ben found himself looking into a rapid whir of images. Hux’s clan, there were dozens of them, and some shapes stood out from the crowd pictured in Hux’s mind’s eye. The strongest and the weakest. The ones who gave the orders and the one that Hux cared for as kin who cowered behind them. There was resentment for the one shouting orders in a language that Ben did not understand but Hux’s mind gave him the meaning of. They’d left him but they were returning, and Hux was planing to prove himself.

Hux spoke out in the dream and his words were in basic, the pack hissed and turned away as he begged for them to understand the potential for learning from this other race. Ben heard Hux cry out in frustration and he refocused on the present.

Ben glanced up again and Hux still hadn’t moved. His dream possessed him too deeply. Ben kept half a thought on Hux as he stood, shouldered his bag without jostling its contents and backed out of the cave. He didn’t plan to go very far but he couldn’t stay in that cave for long. He shouldered his bag as he walked a few metres out into the forest and settled down to meditate with his back against a tree. He glanced around and something caught his eye in the soft dirt beside him. He reach for it and the dirt fell away from the long shaft of what appeared to be a crystal. He lifted it from the ground, wiped it clean and felt the Force in him rise. He shut his eyes and began to roll the crystal in his hands.

Focus came easily to him. He slipped into a state of nothingness and whatever inner weights that would often swing wildly seemed to settle on their strings. So much so that he could play them like notes which rang out through the Force until his inner balance felt like a low sombre melody. Euphoria bloomed inside him and he could hardly stop a burst of laughter from escaping him. He opened his eyes and closed his hand tightly around the crystal.

A deep growl reverberated through the forest. A roar that could have been miles away or only a few feet from him. He refocused out into the forest and felt only one approaching life signature. A familiar pulse in the Force gave him reassurance and moments later Hux appeared beside him. Ben glanced to Hux who looked out into the forest. He paused beside Ben and kept his head tipped his to one side. He was listening for the source.

“What else is out there? Ghoma? Deschene?” Ben asked, “Sharp teeth, claws,” Hux drew his claws out and looked down with bared teeth.

“Fair enough, I guess there are a few things like that,” Ben said and he returned his gaze to darkened trees around them.

“We need to sleep. You need to stay.” Hux said and he knelt beside Ben and clamped his hand around Ben’s wrist.

“I wasn’t going anywhere,” Ben said and He heard Hux huff as he settled down to sleep beside him.

 

Ben woke to numb fingers trapped under a warm heat. He opened his eyes and as he gathered his bearing he realised Hux was asleep beside him. His chin rested on his crossed forearms, which in turn rested across Ben’s stomach. His breathing was steady and his tail twitched periodically. The pressure was not uncomfortable but despite himself Ben shifted his position. Hux sighed in his sleep but his conscious mind did not surface. His thoughts were calmer now, his nightmares had passed for the moment and his need for restful sleep had overtaken his anxious thoughts.

Ben reached out and set his hand carefully on the back of Hux’s shoulder, the hair was coarse around his neck and upper chest, as opposed to the finer hair that covered his lower body and legs. Ben half thought he could cut his finger on it if he ran his fingers through it for too long. Either that or he’d lose a finger if Hux woke up as he was being petted.

Ben could scarcely remember a time when he’d wanted to touch an object of his study like this. Or indeed anyone. His parents had long since avoided touching him. The second anyone or thing made physical contact he’d so often be overwhelmed by their thoughts and the Force’s sensory input that he could barely think besides desperately wanting the touch removed. The Force was with him now. Steady and thrumming in time with the beat of his heart, and Hux’s thoughts were calm and unobtrusive.

Hux stirred and looked up. His eyes were sleep addled but he soon realised that Ben’s hand was on him. He pulled back slowly and pushed himself up. He looked confused for the most part.

“How’re you feeling now?”

“I am ...better,” He stretched his arms up over his head and rolled his neck to one side languidly. He froze, he lowered his arms and cocked his head to one side. Ben tried to focus his hearing on hear whatever it was that Hux might have picked up but couldn’t find anything but the rustling of the trees and much smaller creatures than the two of them . He set one hand against the earth just behind him and reached out in the ground for the pulse in the Force and felt exactly what might be setting Hux on edge.

A steady thrum of a herd moving through the trees was a mile or so off and gaining. Fast. Ben tried to kept half of his attention on the pack of creatures heading their way but lost it as he looked up at Hux and was lost in the mess of roiling emotions. Ben detached himself quickly and tried to put space between them. If this was Hux’s pack, and his dreams were a good indication that they were, then Hux was going to be terrified.

“Hux,” Ben said but he didn’t appear to be heard, “Hux,”

“I was wrong. You should not stay.” Hux said and he pushed himself up to his feet. When Ben stayed where he was Hux stamped his feet, “You should not stay!” He said again.

“You think they’re going to leave you again,” Ben said and was immediately bombarded by far worse imagery as Hux’s mind projected vividly, “They’re going to kill you,”

“They are not right,” Hux said, “I am not right. They will find me. I wanted them to find you. They should understand but they won’t. You should not stay,”

“I’ll go if you go,” Ben said as he struggled to stand. The force of Hux’s thoughts were overwhelming at this distance, made worse so for Ben wanting to hear them.

“They will find me,” Hux said and he desperately pulled at Ben’s arm until he was heading in the right direction and the turned to push him to carry on without him. Ben took whatever steps Hux urged him to do and stopped. Hux snarled and lashed out. His claws tore through the front of Ben’s shirt. Ben took a step back quickly in case Hux lashed out again and ran his fingers down over the torn fabric. Hux’s nails hadn’t even grazed him. He looked up at Hux. He was breathing heavily, distressed and in fear.

“If I could come up with a plan to save us both, would you let me?” Ben asked.

“ _You_ do not understand _my_ kind,” Hux said, “You will die. Will you like that? Will you become more?”

“I won’t die,” Ben said. He guessed that Hux was not going to lash out again and took a step closer, “You’ve seen my power, I can trap them all. I could stop them all like that,” He snapped his fingers. Hux watched Ben’s hand for a moment and then looked up to his face.

“We will not win like-” Hux snapped his fingers in the same way, “What is your plan?”

“Where’s the closest open patch of ground? Somewhere with no trees?”

 

They raced through the trees and Ben had begun to hear the rumble of heavy footfalls close behind them. They were being circled, corralled into a smaller and smaller area but Ben kept close on Hux’s tail. Hux darted left and Ben did the same. To their right he saw the blur of movement. They broke out into a clearing no more than twenty feet around and the hoofbeats grew in volume as Ben wrapped his hand around the crystal in his pocket and willed for the Force to co-operate.

“You have no time.” Hux snapped. “Where is your,” Hux snapped his fingers twice in Ben’s face and Ben glared back at him.

“I’m working on it,” Ben snapped, “Try distracting me again when we’re about to be attacked. I’m sure that will help,”

A sharp twist in the Force urged him to duck as an arrow shot over his head. Seconds later more shot through the treeline towards then at chest level. Ben threw up his hand and diverted their path to avoid their targets. Beside him Hux backed up rapidly but at the sound of his gasp Ben looked back to see an arrow sticking out of Hux’s opposite side. Hux broke it off near the arrow head but Ben saw his wince and the gashes barely healed over from the day before.

“Just try and stay standing for as long as you can,”

“We are in the open. They are covered. They have the advantage,”

“Not for long,” Ben said and backed up against Hux, “It won’t be long,”

“They will grow impatient and attack here soon,”

“I thought they already had,” Ben said under his breath as he threw up a defense against another shower of arrows. His leather jacket had been known to give only minor protection from primitive weapons. He glance back at Hux and doubted he’d be able to take one of his species at full strength if it came down to hand to hand combat. He’d only survive if the Force worked to his whim as it did to his mother’s, that every arrow missed and his attackers did indeed grow impatient.

“You have summoned thunder,” Hux said, “But it is too late,” Ben glanced behind to see two of Hux’s kind breaching the treeline.

“Are there just the two?” Ben asked as he pictured their life signatures and held them in suspension.

“What is two?” Hux snapped. Ben heard the pair behind him gasp for breath.

“I think I’ve got them,” Ben said. He twisted past Hux and threw the two creatures struggling to breathe backwards through the trees. There was a sickening crack and a scream and suddenly the noise in the forest around them grew from the hoofbeats to cries and hisses, growls and beating. A beating pattern of those hooves.

“Is that a war song?” Ben asked. He shot a glance towards Hux who nodded with a solemn expression.

“To send fear. Before the attack,” Hux said. “Are you worried?”

“That’d be it,” Ben said and took a steadying breath, “Are you still with me?”

“Have your eyes been struck?” Hux asked and waved a hand over Ben’s face. He grabbed it and pushed him away. Despite their situation, Ben smiled.

“It’s a phrase that means are you okay. Are you still focussed? You’re not about to back out of the plan,” Ben asked.

“You have not told me your plan,” Hux said with a huff and shot another glance around the treeline. No more arrows had been fired in thirty seconds or so but the beating hoofbeats and calls were getting louder. Deafening. He turned back to Ben and nodded slowly.

 

“I am not done with you yet,” Hux said. Ben felt a swell of emotion and he reached out to rest a hand against Hux’s side. The Force warned him of an imminent threat half a second before the rocks started raining down on them but he wasn’t able to move in time to stop the first from hitting Hux across his forehead. Hux stumbled and dropped to the ground and Ben fell to his knees beside him immediately.

A thunderous rumble overhead, a familiar squeak of a cargo bay door and balster shots overhead scattered the remaining creatures from approaching as Ben tried to pull Hux’s consciousness back to alertness. Hux’s eyes were barely responsive and someone was shouting his name as he dove into Hux’s mind and urged him to consciousness again.

A hand landed on his shoulder and his concentration broke. He snapped his head up to see his mother, though her attention was on the trees around them. He’d never been more grateful for their Force bond.

“What for all our sakes were you thinking?” Leia said as she hooked a hand under his arm and tried to get him to stand. “You go missing for two days and then start projecting that something’s about to kill you. Did it occur to you at ANY point-,” Leia returned her gaze to the forest and fired off a succession of shots. She was all but urging him with the Force to walk away from Hux.

“They’re going to kill _him_ ,” Ben said and he both felt and heard a low growl from Hux.

Hux’s eyes were beginning to flicker and Ben was sure he could feel him starting to come around. He kicked out and Ben only narrowly missed being kicked by his mother pulling him back. Hux struggled but once he stood he looked straight up at Ben. Hux reached out for him. Ben pulled himself from his mother’s grip and Hux dug his claws into Ben’s jacket. It seemed to steady them both. Hux reached a hand inside Ben’s pocket and pulled the knife from Ben’s inner pocket.

“You should not stay,” Hux said firmly but his determination was betrayed by an underlying fear.

Hux turned away from him and walked slowly into the forest. Ben was frozen on the spot as he watched him go.

“Ben. We’re leaving,” Leia said and she pulled him back towards the ladder hanging from the ship. Dozens more creatures moving in the trees only half visible and Hux was out of sight.Once they were both half way up the ladder it began to rise

“You’d better not be starting another war!” Han’s voice came down from the ship as they neared the cargo bay door and were within reach of climbing down.

“Get us out of here,” Leia said. Ben couldn’t move from the doorway. He hung as far as he dared from the ledge

Behind him the voices of his parents arguing faded and he scoured the trees for a flash of red hair. The ship didn’t move.

“Ben. We can’t save that thing. We have to go,” Leia said, “Stop this now. Release the ship. We can go home,”

Ben barely heard her. More of Hux’s species dashed across the clearing, and after a few seconds they were followed by a single injured one. It staggered and it looked to be lame in one hind leg. Red cropped hair and a knife in it’s hand. It was Hux, it had to be. It turned to look up to the ship. A larger shape appeared from the trees behind him. Ben couldn’t call out to warn him before the other creature had attacked. Hux turned and lashed out and both fell to their knees. From a dozen metres up there was blood spreading out from both of them.

Ben couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He scrambled to his feet, gripped the crystal in his pocket and jumped before his mother could stop him. The Force cushioned his landed but he still stumbled as he reached out to Hux who’d fallen to his side

The Force was so strong within him, more active than he’s scarcely ever felt it and he poured an much as he could towards Hux. He spread his hand over the spaces that minutes before had been wide open gashes. The blood in Hux’s veins pumped fast and strong at an unsustainable rate. The Force rushed at Ben’s urging to heal his wounds. His desperation opened the floodgates and more power through the Force consumed him than he ever thought possible.

“Ben,” Hux’s voice broke his attention and the Force retreated back immediately. Ben looked up and down the length of Hux’s body. His back leg was still twisted but the cuts had healed over. Hux looked across the clearing to the last of his kind to attack and Ben followed his gaze.

“Is he dead?” Hux asked.

“Yeah, no life signature,” Ben said and shook his head.

“Good.” Hux said and sighed. Ben reached for Hux’s hand as from behind him Leia approached them.

 

“I’m not leaving without him,” Ben said, “You know enough surgeons on the core planets. One of them can help him,” He said quietly.

“What makes you think it would be kind to bring him with us,” Leia asked. Ben snorted and looked up at her.

“You trained out any kindness I had a long time ago,” Ben said, “He’s coming with us.”

Leia watched him for several long moments and then turned away and returned to the ship

“What will you do to me?” Hux asked him.

“I saved you,” Ben said “Would you rather be dead?” He asked as he dropped back against the grass.

“You want me to come with you. In that ship I am not designed for,” Hux said.

“You should be dead. I’m going to save you,” Ben said. “I’m not done with you yet,”

“Good,” Hux said.


End file.
